Australia’s aged care system is a mess. The COVID-19 death toll in non-government residential aged care facilities in Victoria is in the many hundreds, and the Royal Commission has exposed heartbreaking cases of neglect and abuse.
The solutions are not simple. More money and better regulation are both necessary but won’t be enough. So how can Australia change the culture of its aged care system, and its disdainful attitude to the aged?
In this special Grattan Institute/State Library of Queensland, State of Affairs webinar event, our panel of experts will discuss the rights of vulnerable older Australians, from the perspectives of older people, regulators, and service providers. The panel will also examine Grattan Institute’s latest report Rethinking aged care: emphasising the rights of older Australians, which identifies five principles that should shape the system.
Please join us by registering for this online event – and join in by submitting your questions.
Specific objectives (for Continuing Professional Development purposes):
• Evaluate weaknesses of current aged care policy; and
• Understand the implications of a rights-based approach to aged care.
Event details
Friday 27 November, noon -1pm AEDT
11am – noon AEST
Register here
Speakers
Merle Mitchell AM originally trained as a kindergarten teacher but is most well known for her immense contribution to the community and she has become widely respected for her achievements at local, state, and federal levels. Merle was a member of the steering committee which set up the Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau and remained committed to it for more than 25 years. She was President of Australian Council of Social Service for four years and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1991. She is currently a resident of Waverley Valley, a residential aged care facility in Melbourne’s south-east.
Mary Patetsos is Chair of the Board of Aged Care Housing Group (ACH Group), one of the larger not-for-profit providers in South Australia providing housing and accommodation to more than 2200 people and community care to about 10,000 people. Mary is also Chair of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia and Chair of its National Health Positive CALD Ageing Network and of the Port Adelaide Football Club’s Power Community Limited. She is a non-Executive Director, Northern Area Local Health Network.
Stephen Duckett is Director of Grattan’s Health Program. He has held top operational and policy leadership positions in health care in Australia and Canada, including as Secretary of what is now the Commonwealth Department of Health. An economist, Stephen is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science. He is lead author of Grattan’s Rethinking aged care report.
